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EVERY WEEKEND, OUR political team casts an eye over the events inside and outside Leinster House that have people talking.
This week saw a shocking win for Sinn Féin, with a debate on abortion that has split Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, as well as the Rotunda Hospital remaining in the headlines.
So, here are our political winners and losers from the week that was:
1. David Cullinane
Sinn Féin had a big win this week with its bill to remove the mandatory three-day waiting period between a GP consultation and accessing a termination being passed by the Dáil.
The bill was introduced by health spokesperson David Cullinane this week after Sinn Féin abstained in a vote on a more wide-ranging Bill on abortion tabled by the Social Democrats last month.
It is unusual for the opposition to get government TDs on their side, with Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris saying this week they would vote for the proposal. A free vote was in place for government TDs, with a large cohort disagreeing with the stance of their party leaders.
Anyway, it is good to see that parties can work together from time-to-time.
2. Pádraig Rice
Another party health spokesperson is getting the nod, this time Social Democrats TD Pádraig Rice. He’s been keeping the issue of public-only consultants doing private work in the news this week, telling reporters public-only consultants in a number of maternity hospitals have been receiving gifts to carry out private care.
Other than the Rotunda Hospital, he said it is happening in Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) too.
It was revealed last Saturday that private consultants at the Rotunda Hospital have been giving their public maternity care colleagues “gifts” of up to €1,500 for caring for their patients who give birth on weekends.
This latest controversy comes after weeks of focus on maternity care in Dublin’s Rotunda hospital after it emerged that consultants on public-only contracts have been providing private care, which the government has maintained is in breach of their contracts.
As cathoirleach of the Oireachtas Health Committee, Rice has pledged to haul the hospitals in before the committee in the coming weeks.
3. Jennifer Carroll MacNeill
Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill is one of the winners this week for not giving up on her fight to get consultants to honour their public-only contracts by working later into the evening and on Saturdays.
Speaking before the Oireachtas Health Committee this week, the minister said there is no one in the health service, including consultants, who should get in the way of a seven-day hospital service.
“I do not ever want to hear again the following argument: ‘But that means we cannot work on Wednesday.’ Yes, we know. Everybody here is able to count and if you work on Saturday that means you do not work a different day,” she said of consultants shirking the terms of their contracts.
She recalled how she wanted to get more surgeries done last year for women with endometriosis and was told by one hospital that they don’t do elective surgeries after 5pm “because the theatre manager says we can’t”.
MacNeill said it wasn’t good enough when the new contracts stipulate consultants must work till 10pm.
MacNeill said data she has shows that those working evenings and weekends remains “woefully low” which is why she has instructed hospital managers and clinical directors to fix their rosters over the next four weeks.
Not only is she winning over the public with her no nonsense attitude, but she is also winning over the opposition, with the Sinn Féin health spokesperson praising the minister this week.
Addressing the minister in the committee, Cullinane said he welcomed the robustness of the minister, telling her it is “really refreshing” and is not what he has experienced with other health ministers in the past.
He complimented her “direct hands-on approach”, and said opposition health spokespeople, like himself, shouldn’t be afraid to say they are going to get behind the state or the minister when they agree with the common goal of a universal health system
“I thank the minister for her directness,” said Cullinane. A good week for a minister when you hear those words from the opposition.
1. Micheal Martin
The ongoing saga of whether the Silke Road Café will be able to remain continues this week.
Speaking in Brussels about the closure of the Silk Road Café in the Chester Beatty at Dublin Castle, the Taoiseach said it is a matter “more complex than has been said” and was not the result of the EU presidency.
The Taoiseach’s comments come as the café, which has been in business at the premises for almost 25 years, secured an injunction in court against its landlord the Chester Beatty Library preventing its closure for the six months of the EU presidency.
However, the grounds of Dublin Castle are closed to the public as work is underway for the presidency, meaning the business cannot operate.
The EU presidency will be hosted by Ireland from 1 July.
The matter was raised with the Taoiseach and relevant ministers on several occasions this week. Tánaiste Simon Harris said the government is “happy to continue to engage with the café”, adding that “nobody wants to see any business discommoded.”
Speaking to The Journal in Brussels, Martin said he had gone back to his officials to look into the matter.
“First of all, my understanding is it’s [the closure] not because of the European presidency,” he said. “It’s more complex than has been said. I believe there’s more issues.”
Social Democrats TD Eoin Hayes said on Wednesday afternoon that he asked the Taoiseach to meet with Phelan and the café’s manager Rikke Sorensen, who were in the public gallery of the Dáil this afternoon.
He said Micheál Martin declined his invitation, “though he stated that he believes no business should have been put at a loss as a result of the EU Presidency”. We’re giving the Taoiseach the thumbs down this week because this issue first arose, and was raised the Taoiseach, over a month ago.
It doesn’t look like it will be sorted any time soon, and not before the EU Presidency kicks off. Surely, everyone, including the Taoiseach, can put their heads together to see this gets solved.
Tell us in the comments who your winners and losers are this week.
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